Get Rid of the Estate Tax Completely, But Use the Original Cost Basis for Valuation

It makes sense my assets should flow freely to the next of kin, or whomever I designate.

The estate tax is fundamentally immoral, in my opinion: assets that I have accumulated over my life with after-tax dollars should be able to freely change hands when I die. Why should an asset that I bequeath suddenly be treated like income for the person who inherits it? I just don't see how that makes sense, and it can force my heirs to make undesirable moves, such as selling assets into a weak market to raise the money to cover the estate tax.

However, another the part of estate law that is equally illogical is how the cost basis changes to the value of an asset at the time of the inheritance.

For example, if I buy a house today for $250K and leave it to my next of kin in 30 years fully paid off and worth $500K he can sell it immediately and pay zero capital gains tax on the sale because the IRS allows him to report that the house cost him $500K, not $250K.

This is fundamentally illogical -- why should the cost basis change if I originally only paid $250K? My next of kin didn't buy the house from me, he simply inherited it.

Currently, estates smaller than $5.34 million are exempt from federal estate tax, which means that my next of kin could inherit my house for free and sell it for free, too, but if I sell it before I die the sale is subject to tax. I'm sorry, but that is just wrong.

So, while I support elimination of the estate tax for estates of any size, I strongly believe that the cost basis for any assets in estates of all sizes should reflect the value at which the assets were originally acquired, not the value when they are inherited.